Saturday, January 16, 2010

Tea & Books Saturday #3 - "Teapots"

TeapotsBy the Victoria and Albert MuseumPublished by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1955

This small picture book is one I purchased on eBay a few years ago because I had just purchased a vintage teapot similar to the one on the cover and wanted to know more about it. My knowledge of teapots is pretty much limited to knowing which ones in my personal collection are best for brewing tea. I aspire, however, to learn more about the various materials teapots are made of, and I'd love to be able to estimate the age of a teapot just by examining it.

The book reminded me of one particularly interesting bit of information I believe I'd read before, that "early Chinese vessels (and some later ones) that look like teapots were actually used for wine." This one circa 1662-1722, which the book notes is "shaped like a peach," is described as possibly being a wine pot since it had the "opening below." I do not actually see an opening other than the spout in this photo, so that's a bit of a mystery to me.

Since this is mainly a picture book, I thought I'd share another photo that impressed me, this one of a red stoneware Meissen teapot from about 1720. It was cut and polished on a glass-cutter's wheel!

Finally, here's the photo of the teapot which inspired me to get this book in the first place.

Here is the teapot I had purchased (a much less elaborate model, but you can see some similarity).

And finally, while reading this book and repeatedly looking at the cover, I realized I also have a tablecloth with a design which looks suspiciously like the cover of this book as well, especially with the feathers on each side! At least I know where the fabric designers were getting their inspiration ... or was it vice versa?